NEWS

The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 18, 2005 - 3

* ON CAMPUS
McIntosh Theater
to hold chamber
music performance
" The School of Music is sponsoring
the concert "Chamber Winds" today.
The performance will take place in the
McIntosh Theatre of the E.V. Moore
Building at 8 p.m. tonight. There is no
cost to attend. For more information
visit www.music.unich.edu or call 763-
4726.
'Stop Blaming
Columbus' to be
performed for free
The opera "Stop Blaming Columbus"
will be featured tonight at 8 p.m. in the
Duderstadt Center. The event is spon-
sored by the School of Music and is free
of charge. Other showings will be at 8
p.m. tonight and Saturday.
Grad student fair to
" be held in Union
The Michigan Union and the Michi-
gan Union Bookstore will be holding
a Grad Fair to provide a one-stop
opportunity for graduating seniors to
find everything they need for gradua-
tion. Students will be able to join the
Alumni Association, buy their caps and
gowns and order their class rings and
graduation invitations. The fair will
take place on the ground floor of the
Michigan Union from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
CRIME
NOTES
Assault on State
St results in no
police report
A subject reported to the Department
of Public Safety that he was walking at
State Street and William Street when an
unknown person assaulted him Wednes-
day. The subject told DPS that he did not
want to file a report.
'U' Hospital issues
* prescriptions to
dead patients.
A University Hospital doctor was
contacted by the pharmacy audit depart-
ment of Medco, a prescription benefit
management company, with a list of 12
patient prescriptions that looked sus-
picious. The doctor told DPS that he
did not write any of the prescriptions
and that a couple of the "patients" are
deceased.
Mysterious liquid
* reported to DPS,
found to be water

A custodian at the Electrical Engi-
neering building reported to DPS yes-
terday that there was some type of
liquid coming from underneath a door.
The spill was later investigated by the
Occupational Safety and Environmen-
tal Health Department and identified as
water.
THIS DAY
In Daily History
Duderstadt picked
as College of
* Engineering dean
March 11, 1981 - Future University
President James Duderstadt, then profes-
sor of nuclear engineering, was selected
as dean of the College of Engineering,
Vice President for Academic Affairs Bill
Frye announced.
Duderstadt would later be named
provost and vice president for academic
affairs in 1986, and was appointed presi-
dent of the University in 1988.
During his tenure, which lasted until
1996, Duderstadt crafted and enacted the

Arabic courses gain popularity at 'U'

By Laura Frank
For the Daily
With the media's attention and career opportu-
nities geared more than ever on the Middle East,
enrollment in the University's Arabic language
classes has increased by 40 percent, while the
number of introductory Arabic sections being
taught has gone from two before 2001, to six last
semester.
This pattern follows a national trend from at least
the last seven years, which shows that the number
of both undergraduate and graduate students tak-
ing Arabic courses more than doubled in the years
between 1998 - when those students began their
studies - and 2002, according to a Modern Lan-
guage Association study. During this same time
period, 76 institutions around the country added
new Arabic language programs, bringing the total
number in the United States to 233.
The 9/11 Commission Report found that most
government translators are not proficient enough
in Arabic to keep up with the language's nuances;
and it recommended increased hiring and train-
ing. Since Sept. 11, 2001, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation has hired more than 700 new transla-
tors. Moreover, in 2002 the total number of Arabic
undergraduate degrees granted by U.S. colleges
and universities was six, according to the 9/11
Commission Report released in July 2004.
Many University students of Arabic said they
view Arabic proficiency as a useful skill because
of this recent demand for translators. LSA sopho-
more Leslie Gutierrez saidhshe feltthat knowl-
edge of Arabic would set her apart and help her
to achieve her goal of pursuing a career in the
FBI. LSA sophomore Nick Link echoed Gutier-
rez's statement, saying that the need for Arabic
translators influenced his decision to study the
language.
"I don't know what I want to do, but I'm sure
that Arabic will help me in anything I choose," he
added.
The University's recent addition of a study
abroad program in Cairo, Egypt also reflects inter-
est in the region. The program, which was initiated
during the Fall 2004, is a shared study program
REMAINSweex
Continued from page 1 said.
Members of the Native American Once
community on campus and faculty Universi
members of the Native American istic for t
studies department were asked by the the time.
band to not speak to the public on the sion and
issue. II, along
office o
Moving On from the Past impossib
The elders of the Whitefish River band clear ide
made a promise the day the community displace
addressed the absence of the remains on "I ima
Old Birch Island, Osche said. hope ab
"They promised our community powerles
would flourish when this was done. That But ti
we would regain our sense of pride and by band
dignity," she said. said, add
With the approval for repatriation, Greenma
Osche said her community has now him in di
reclaimed that prestige. But it came with "In 19.
decades-worth of work with the Univer- this (buri
sity to achieve. Not ui
And although the repatriation process ered a 1
has been settled, both sides still differ in cating th
their interpretations of the history behind the Univ
the burial remains and the process lead- people b
ing up to yesterday's repatriation. the burin
Part of the dispute was both sides' dif- sity. The
fering interpretation of Greenman's origi- trade ro
nal excavation of the remains. Osche said fish Rive
Greenman exhumed the remains without lude tha
the consent of the band members, who transferr
had initially aided the anthropologist in Arrivi]
touring the area and may have revealed Osche sa
the burial site to him. firmed t

between the University and the American Uni-
versity in Cairo. Currently there are only one or
two students from the University participating in
the program, but Carol Dickerman, director of the
Office of International Programs, said she is hope-
ful that others will take advantage of this opportu-
nity in the coming years.
As interest in the region grows, the OIP is also
working with the departments of Near Eastern
Studies and Middle Eastern and North African
Studies to consider other study-abroad options,
Dickerman said.
The increase in media focus on the Middle
East has also led many students of Arab or Mus-
lim descent to enroll in Arabic classes in order to
learn more about their own cultures or the lan-
guage of the Quran, said Fawzia Bariun, a lec-
turer for Arabic 102.
However, media portrayals of Arabic culture
have also had a negative effect on the participa-
tion of some Arab students in the community,
said Mahmoud Fadlallah, LSA alum and interna-
tional relations chair of the Arab Student Asso-
ciation.
Fadlallah said while many students of Arab
or Muslim descent who may not have previous-
ly affiliated themselves with Arab culture have
become interested in it, there are also many Arab
students who have chosen to disassociate them-
selves with the Arab community because of the
negative media portrayals of the culture, creat-
ing a polarization between those who are very
involved in Arab life and those who are com-
pletely uninvolved.
'As much as (the media) served to help, it has
served to hamper," Fadlallah said.
In spite of the rise in popularity of Arabic, mem-
bers of the Arab and Muslim communities say they
must still deal with negative perceptions of their
cultures on a daily basis.
While Amjad Tarsin, LSA junior and Islam
Awareness chair for the Muslim Students' Asso-
ciation, said he has not experienced any direct acts
of prejudice, but added he has noticed that people
on campus seem more wary of him when he wears
a kufi - a traditional Muslim hat.
"Generally people are more friendly when I'm

LSA senior Brad Krueger is studying Arabic because he finds it to be a different and fascinating
language.

not wearing it," Tarsin said.
The same media attention that has led to the
rise in interest in Arabic language courses has also
intensified stereotypical portrayals of Arabs, espe-
cially Muslim Arabs, Tarsin said.
A study by the Human Rights and Equal Oppor-
tunity Commission released last June indicates that
Tarsin's experiences are not isolated. The study
found that incidents of racism, abuse and violence
against Arabs and Muslims around the country
have increased greatly since Sept. 2001.

Jory Hearst, an RC sophomore taking Arabic
102, said she believes that one reason negative
stereotypes persist is the lack of interaction with
people living in the Middle East. "We talk so much
about the Middle East, but most people can't com-
municate with people from there," Hearst said.
"It's easy to make generalizations."
Hearst said she hopes that through learning Ara-
bic she will gain an understanding of Arab culture
and politics, especially as it relates to the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict.

t innocence, their naive-ness
ploited by Mr. Greenman," she
the remains were sent to the
ty, Osche said, it was unreal-
he band to seek repatriation at
She said the economic depres-
the beginning of World War
with the inept Indian Affairs
f Canada, made repatriation
ble. Moreover, the band had no
ea of where the remains were
d to.
agined they must have gave up
out these remains, or they were
s to do anything," she said.
the excavation was approved
members at the time, O'Shea
ing that band members showed
n the burial site and assisted
gging up the remains.
38, nobody up there considered
al site) a cemetery," he said.
itil 1983, after Osche discov-
950 report by Greenman indi-
at the burial remains were at
ersity, did the Whitefish River
begin their effort to reclaim
al remains from the Univer-
report documented in detail
utes in the vicinity of White-
er land, which led her to con-
at the remains might have been
ed to the University.
ing at the University soon after,
id she met O'Shea, who con-
hat the Anthropology Museum

possessed the remains from Old Birch
Island. O'Shea even substantiatedBthe
claim by giving Osche a more conclusive
Greenman report.
"He gave me Dr. Greenman's
report, and he said to me, 'Dr. Green-
man states in his report that the ances-
tors he found on Old Birch Island
were more than likely the ancestors
of the people of present day Old Birch
Island," she said.
"I was very impressed; I thought he
was helping us," Osche added.
But retrieving the remains was another
matter, as even with the passage of NAG-
PRA, there were no legal means for the
band to repatriate the remains.
"We knew we were up against great
odds," she said. "We knew that there
wasn't a good chance we were going to
get them. But we asked anyway."
After years of various failed
attempts to have their claims recog-
nized by the museum, formal talks
with the University finally began in
1997. But they ended abruptly when,
on April 22, then-University Presi-
dent Lee Bollinger sent a letter to the
Whitefish River band denying that the
band had a cultural affiliation to the
tribe - despite the evidence in the
Greenman report. It was tough for the
tribe to swallow, Osche said.
"They felt they had a responsibility to
protect their collection," Osche said. "We
understood the University point of view
- they were very clear in communicat-

"I Imagined they must have gave up hope
about these remains, or they were powerless
to do anything."
- Esther Osche
Member of the Whitefish River band

ing their point of view - but they weren't
clear with our point of view."
O'Shea, however, said there was not
enough evidence from the Whitefish
River band to support the claim that the
remains belonged to current residents of
Old Birch Island. "Based on the physical
evidence, you cannot necessarily affili-
ate these remains to the Whitefish River
people," he said. Moreover, Krenz said
the University also needed to consider the
academic loss of relinquishing remains
that have scientific value.
"The University has this ethical obliga-
tion to preserve artifacts of the past. And
it is trying to balance that with the cul-
tural complex," he said.
Although O'Shea said he is still not
convinced that the burial remains are
the ancestors of the Whitefish River
band, the University recognized in
2003 the custodial responsibility the
band had over the remains. Since
the remains lied in the territory of
the Whitefish River peoples, O'Shea
said the University decided it was
legitimate to repatriate the remains
on that pretense. But it was necessary

for other Canadian tribes in the Great
Lakes region to approve the repatria-
tion as well in order to ensure that
the burial remains did not belong to
another people.
After gaining the approval of other
Canadian tribes, Osche said, the White-
fish River band was then able to finally go
forth with repatriation.
Despite the sometimes difficult deal-
ings with the University, Osche said with
the approval from the regents and O'Shea,
the University have clearly shown that it
respects the claims of the Whitefish River
band.
"They do understand, they have finally
come to understand, that the first nation
will not go away, the first nation has a
great responsibility," she said. "And I
think somehow they began to see this and
how to help us."
While this is the University's first
international burial remains repatriation,
it may not be the last. O'Shea said the
University's museums may still have the
human remains of other Canadian tribes,
but it is yet to be seen whether a tribe or
tribes will wish to reclaim them.


Jack Johnson

The University of Michigan
Department of Dermatology
is currently offering a research study with an
FDA approved medication for Atopic Dermatitis.
Office visits and medication are provided free of charge to eligible participants.
Children must be at least 2 years old to qualify.
You may qualify if in good general health.
Patients will be compensated for their participation.

For more information,
please call:
(734) 764-DERM

O a University of Michigan
M d ~Medical Center
=- -n-


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